Asturias is brilliant to grow blueberries, the weather and its fertile soil make a perfect combination to grow this delicious berries.

Wild blueberries aren't difficult to find in Western Asturias, a mostly untouched territory where the mix of coastline, mountains and reservoirs is breathtaking. The recently built motorway takes you from Oviedo to Navia in around an hour. I still remember when travelling to Western Asturias in the summer included several stops to collect wild blueberries that grew freely on the side of the road.

The difficulty lies in knowing where to find them. However, if you are around that area, you must stop to buy some at the Caxigal's cooperative orchard, just outside Grandas de Salime.

We talked to Manuel, who explained to us that in their two hectares they grow six different blueberry varieties. Thanks to that, they are collecting berries from June to October. They started the orchard ten years ago and have been collecting blueberries from it for seven years now. Most of the 17,000 kg of blueberries they collect annually are exported abroad to France, UK and Holland mainly. The orchard is an addition to all the amazing conservation work that this pro-environment cooperative does to preserve the area and sustain the livelihoods of rural people.

Their blueberries are delicious, full of intense flavour and as fresh as it can get. Caxigal's berries are grown with minimum use of chemicals and their superior quality makes them perfect from jams and compotes.